PewDiePie to take break from YouTube as 'feeling very tired'

YouTube star PewDiePie has announced he is taking a break from the platform, saying he is "feeling very tired".

The 30-year-old Swedish star, real name Felix Kjellberg, found fame with video game commentaries and was at one point the world's highest earning YouTuber.

But he was more recently involved in controversies around accusations of racism and anti-Semitism.

"Early next year I'll be away for a little while. I'll explain that later," PewDiePie said in a video post.

Earlier this year, PewDiePie, who currently has 102 million subscribers, was overtaken as the biggest YouTube channel in the world by Bollywood record label T-Series, which now has more than 121 million subscribers.

"I'm taking a break from YouTube next year. I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind. I'm tired. I'm feeling very tired. I don't know if you can tell," PewDiePie said, laughing.

Disney cut ties with him in 2017 after some videos he released were found to contain Nazi references or anti-Semitic imagery. He accepted the material was offensive, but said he did not support "any kind of hateful attitudes".

PewDiePie had been linked to Disney through Maker Studios, a company with a network of YouTube stars.

Later that year, he apologised for using the N-word during a live stream. And last year, he apologised again for reposting a meme which appeared to mock Demi Lovato's hospital treatment for a suspected drug overdose.